A video instructional series on the American Constitution for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 13 one-hour video programs and coordinated books

Constitutional issues come to life in this Emmy Award-winning series. Key political, legal, and media professionals engage in spontaneous and heated debates on controversial issues such as campaign spending, the right to die, school prayer, and immigration reform. This series will deepen understanding of the life and power of this enduring document and its impact on history and current affairs, while bringing biases and misconceptions to light.

1. Executive Privilege and Delegation of Powers
Can the President's conversations with advisors remain secret when Congress demands to know
what was said? Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski, former President Gerald Ford, and
Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox bring first-hand experience to this topic.

2. War Powers and Covert Action
If the president, as commander in chief, decides to declare war, can Congress restrain him?
Debating the issue are Gerald Ford, former CIA deputy director Bobby Inman, former secretary
of state Edmund Muskie, and others.

3. Nomination, Election, and Succession of the President
A tangled web of issues is involved in electing a president. Edmund Muskie, former presidential
press secretary Jody Powell, party officials, and others discuss the role of political parties, the
electoral college, and what to do if a president becomes disabled.

5. Crime and Insanity
Is a psychiatric evaluation precise enough to be allowed as testimony in a court of law? U.S.
Court of Appeals judge Irving Kaufman, Hastings Center president Willard Gaylin, and others
discuss the use of psychiatry in law.

6. Crime and Punishments
Cruel and unusual punishment, from overcrowding in prisons to the death penalty, is debated by
U.S. Court of Appeals judge Arthur Alarcon, Federal Bureau of Prisons director Norman
Carlson, government leaders, civil libertarians, and journalists.

7. Campaign Spending
Do limits on campaign spending infringe on First Amendment rights? Political consultant David
Garth, Washington Post columnist David Broder, Bill Moyers, and others explore the issues.

8. National Security and Freedom of the Press
What right does the public have to know about national security issues? Former CIA director and
secretary of defense James Schlesinger, former attorney general Griffin Bell, and others debate
the issue.

10. Right To Live, Right To Die
Gloria Steinem, Joseph Califano, Rep. Henry Hyde, Phil Donahue, and others discuss the right
to make intensely individual decisions about dying, abortion, personal freedom, and privacy.

11. Immigration Reform
The rights of legal and illegal aliens to employment and to medical and educational services are
debated by U.S. Court of Appeals judge Arlin Adams, Notre Dame president Rev. Theodore
Hesburgh, and immigration officials and journalists.

13. Federalism
How much power the federal government can wield over state and local affairs is debated in this
final episode. Among those featured are Senators Orrin Hatch and Daniel Moynihan and
Columbia University professor Diane Ravitch.